Perhaps responding to backlash about preorder items for Battlefield 3, the Battlefield Blog has a FAQ on the Physical Warfare Pack and Back to Karkand pre-order items. They make a point of explaining that the Physical Warfare Pack shouldn't influence game balance in DICE's upcoming military shooter sequel:

Q: Is the Physical Warfare Pack available in all regions, or just in the UK?
A: It will be available worldwide at select retailers. It was first announced in the UK. Exact details for other countries and retailers will be announced at a later date.

Q: Will Physical Warfare Pack imbalance the game?
A: The three exclusive items in the Physical Warfare Pack were specifically chosen not to be overpowered or imbalance or break the game in any way.

Q: Why do I want the Physical Warfare Pack?
A: Owning these items will give you a more varied arsenal, but it will not give you a significant advantage on the battlefield.

Post CommentEnter the details of the comment
you'd like to post in the boxes below and click the button at
the bottom of the form.

Nate wrote on Jun 13, 2011, 23:09:Don't care about this physical warfare pack. The 3 extra maps that you can only get by pre-ordering with EA is the issue.

Actually, the issue isn't so much the Back to Karkland map pack with preorders, it has more to do with the Physical Warfare Pack.

The map pack will be available to any preorder, whether it is from retail or digital distribution. I imagine DICE's reasoning for the so called bonus is to help justify the price hike in the Battlefield series from $49.99 to $59.99. Extra maps (though one can argue if they are completed ahead of time they should be included by default) or other bonus material tends to lessen the ire of the consumer when a price hike occurs.

In my opinion, the real issue is the Warfare Pack, which includes 1 First Day access item (unlockable by everyone if they play the game long enough) and 3 Exclusive items (not obtainable in the game), one of which is a weapon. If DICE follows suit with the UK announcement which is quite probable, this item pack will only be obtainable via select brick-and-mortar retailers and no digital distribution retailers that we know of at this time. This is one reason that people are upset, some may feel the need to purchase the game from a retailer they normally would not do business with, due to lack of convenience, disdain for that particular store, or some other reason.

Another issue is what is stated by DICE in their Physical Warfare Pack FAQ:

DICE wrote:Q: Why do I want the Physical Warfare Pack?A: Owning these items will give you a more varied arsenal, but it will not give you a significant advantage on the battlefield.

Does this imply there is a slight advantage? How about a moderate advantage? It is odd they chose to use the adjective 'significant' in their statement. I mean who knows, the Type 88 LMG might be ideal in certain circumstances and maybe that flechette shotgun ammunition could be lethal in the close quarter combat situations / maps where range isn't a factor in a standard engagement.

Any way you slice it, some people are going to be a bit perturbed not having access to all the same things other players will have access to when the only difference is supposed to be the player's skill.